Bilbo was nervous. Gloin could see that with half an eye, yet most of the other companions barely noticed the way Bilbo's eyebrows knotted or the frequency he darted glances the direction Gandalf had taken barely a few hours before.

"Peace," Gloin murmured. "He shall return before you know it."

"Do you know," said Bilbo in a distracted tone, "that's precisely what my father told my mother last time Gandalf left with no warning?"

"Oh?"

"Yes. Had almost forgotten all about him by the time he eventually returned. Sixteen years later."

Gloin took a breath from his pipe, blowing the strong-smelling smoke through the air as he spoke. "Hmm. I'm certain he'll be here soon enough. Don't panic about him, lad."

"Mmm," Bilbo knocked his own pipe against a tree, scattering spent ashes to the ground. "I'll see if Bofur needs help with anything."

It turned out Bofur did, sending Bilbo into the woods armed with two bowls of stew. Taking his eyes off the shrinking figure in the foreground, he went to accept his own supper from Bombur, surprised at the wonderful flavour once he sampled a spoonful.

"It's not a bad stew, Bombur," Gloin told him, gesturing with his spoon. "I've had worse!"

"Dori could've cooked it!" Nori howled, to the accompanying laughter of their kin.

"Hilarious," Dori said, rolling his eyes at the antics of his younger brother.

Gloin noticed the hidden smile on the elder Dwarf's features and went back to his seat, quietly chuckling. Looking over at the woods Bilbo had disappeared into, he wondered how long it would be until he returned.

Mahal above... This was... This was..

Gloin pushed at his fabricated prison, growling as it did not break. Ceasing his movement, he lay, panting, trying to recall exactly how their capture had occurred.

Bilbo had gone to give Fili and Kili their dinner. He'd not come out, but Fili had. Trolls had been mentioned as well as the sentence, "The Trolls have Bilbo!" A feeling akin to the cold of ice had swept its way through Gloin's body. Weapons had been drawn and they'd followed Fili to the beasts, arriving just in time to witness Kili catching Bilbo in his arms.

And then they'd attacked.

It was a fine and vicious fight. The Trolls were more badly hurt than they were and they could have won had it not been for the fact that the scum had threatened his Hobbit.

No, their Hobbit.

Either way, Bilbo had been in danger and it had taken several heartbeats for them all to lay down their weapons, though Bilbo had not asked them to.

The fact still remained, however, that they were in an awful situation and if they survived it, Gloin was going to be having words with their burglar.

"You are making a terrible mistake!" Bilbo said, giving the Trolls what Gloin was certain, was a stern look.

"You can't reason with them, they're halfwits!" Dori called over.

"Halfwits? What does that make us?" Bofur asked.

"I, er, meant with the seasoning..."

And Gloin listened in shock and indignation as the Halfling suggested recipes for the Trolls to use. To eat them. And then he mentioned skinning and Gloin lost his temper completely, telling the Shireling he would be the one skinned. Somehow.

There was disagreement between the Trolls and Bilbo. One of them said he preferred Dwarves raw, to which Gloin hid a cringe, before he started hoisting Bombur up by the feet to Bilbo's horror.

"N-not that one, he... he's infected!"

There was a pregnant pause, the silence broken courtesy of one of the Trolls questioning what he'd heard.

"He's got worms.. in his... tubes!"

The lack of confidence in Bilbo's lie made Nori shake his head, Gloin noticed from the corner of his eye. Oh, Mahal. Save them all if Nori taught Bilbo how to lie. They'd never be safe again.

As the Troll unceremoniously dropped Bombur, Bilbo hastily added, "In fact they all have. They're infested with parasites..."

As the lad hurried on, Gloin began to feel concerned. Had he knocked his head or something?

"Parasites? Did he say parasites?" Oin asked.

"Yes, he- We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kili declared.

"What are you talking about, laddie?" Gloin called over, deciding he wanted the answer before getting devoured by Trolls.

Without explanation, Thorin gave a not-so-subtle kick, shooting a stare at all he could see, his eyes glancing from Bilbo to his Company, warning them to agree.

Oin started. "I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

As the rest of the Company agreed, one of the Trolls looked highly suspicious before stomping over to Bilbo, glowering fiercely at him.

"I don't believe you," he warned, pointing a thick, scarred digit directly at the Hobbit.

"I'm telling the truth." Bilbo answered. The finger lunged at Bilbo, knocking his shoulder. It must have been painful for he yelped, paling before glancing back towards the Troll. "I have not given lies to you."

The beast probably would have had a lot more to say on the matter had an angry voice not interrupted.

"The Dawn shall take you all!"

There was not much time to speak with Bilbo. Between Troll hoards, slightly inane Wizards, and the bloodthirsty Orc pack on their trail, Gloin couldn't find the time to discuss it. He stayed close by Bilbo, not wanting to lose him. It wouldn't have mattered to spend a few minutes away, Bofur, Oin and Nori weren't far , but that was well beside the point.

They would not be losing their burglar again.

Now, they were all collected in a type of underground cavern, a narrow tunnel at its back. As they all went through, following each other, he kept the Halfling directly in front at all times. Bilbo was unused to places so hard, with sharp protrusions from the surfaces. He hailed from the gentle earth, not the rough stone they were accustomed to.

He kept touching at his own shoulder, tenderly and regularly. The brute had obviously done some damage to him and Gloin felt like turning back and smashing their stone-turned bodies into smithereens with his ax. He reached to touch it, trying to assess the problem only for Bilbo to pull away.

"You are hurt," he said.

"I'll live." Bilbo answered.

"Hmm. I'll look when we stop, lad."

Bilbo grimaced. "Excellent, nearly get them all eaten and then get yourself hurt and possibly hinder the journey," he thought grimly to himself. "Good job, Bilbo!"

How angry was the Dwarf? His papa was a one to discuss problems immediately, yet Bilbo hadn't heard a thing from his guardian. It couldn't be that he didn't mind the incident. Yet, he didn't seem angry. He didn't sound it and his contact had been astonishingly gentle for one so gruff.

Perhaps it was just the way of Dwarves, he decided. Gazing back up at the winking sunlight through the cracks above them, he wondered, not for the first time, just where they were all headed.

Quite short, but I'll make up for it next chapter :) Seriously, look at the size of the Trolls and look at Bilbo. The Troll who called him a ferret could really have hurt him and he did, actually, so I've incorporated that in here.

Hope it was enjoyed!

Love from Shania. xx